Kate Halliday, Shrewsbury & Atcham Constituency Labour Party’s delegate to annual conference in Brighton has called for an end to NHS cuts and privatisation.  Speaking at the conference, long-time Shrewsbury resident and activist Kate said:

“Shrewsbury and Atcham Constituency Labour Party are against the ongoing cuts in funding and privatisation of our NHS. Huge deficits and plans to slash £135 million from the NHS in Shropshire this year are leading to the proposed closure of one of our A&E departments which we strongly oppose.  We will see a reduction in hospital beds, downgrading of hospital day services and popular Shropdoc out-of-hours GP service put out to tender.  Government policies are putting the lives and health of people in Shropshire at risk, as well as cutting up to 2000 vital local jobs.”

Kate told conference delegates that her local Labour Party was campaigning against the closure: “This week Shrewsbury and Atcham Constituency Labour Party put forward a motion which was accepted at the Labour Party Conference to reverse the ongoing privatisation of the NHS including the recent Government change in policy to allow the selling off of NHS land, and the opening up of our NHS to multinational private companies to take over our hospitals and GP services.”

Kate finished by demanding action from Shropshire’s Conservative MPs and a rallying cry for Labour’s members and supporters: “I challenge Shropshire’s Conservative MPs to take urgent measures to defend our NHS services.  Words are not enough anymore – only firm action to defend our constituents against the cuts to life-saving services will do.  But their track records on this issue are poor and I urge the people of Shropshire to vote Labour to save our NHS!”